This isn’t happening, it seems. But it was discussed, and if it had happened it would have been pretty spiffy for a number of reasons: Jon Heyman reports that the Phillies talked to the Cubs about a straight-up deal of Domonic Brown for Alfonso Soriano.

Man, imagine this one a couple of years ago when Soriano was considered the most expensive dead carcass of a ballplayer and Brown was still considered an up and coming prospect. Then Brown continued to struggle and Soriano, while still never being worth his contract — he’s owed $36 million over the next two seasons — had a decent year last year. And, more importantly, the Cubs seem willing to pay a lot to unload him.

Pretty close to a challenge trade: is there enough left if Soriano and enough time for Brown to realize his once great potential? Such a deal would probably scare Cubs and Phillies fans, but for the rest of us it would be pretty fascinating.